Tanker, Barge Collide; Fuel Spills Into Bay

LEWES, Del. — A Panamanian tanker and a barge carrying more than 7 million gallons of gasoline and heating oil collided early Sunday, spilling 152,000 gallons of gasoline into Delaware Bay, authorities said.

The spill left a light sheen of gasoline over a 2 1/2-mile by 200-yard area four miles from the mouth of the bay off Lewes. The Coast Guard said it expected the gasoline to dissipate by Sunday night.

Cmdr. Donald Gilbert of the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office in Philadelphia said Sunday’s high temperatures and rain later in the day were helping to break the sheen apart.

The spill was not expected to threaten the Delaware or New Jersey shorelines or the two states’ popular ocean resort areas.

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration said that a fish kill was likely, although none had been reported more than 15 hours after the spill.